Rappenlochschlucht near Dornbirn in Austria
South of Lake Constance and just beyond the borders of Germany and Switzerland lies Dornbirn [↗]. This sprawling city is even larger than the much better-known Bregenz. Southeast of Dornbirn is the Rappenlochschlucht (=Rappenloch Gorge) [↗] and, once you have crossed it, Lake Staufen, the Alplochschlucht (=Alploch Gorge), and finally the Kirchle. These can be easily combined in a hike, with the degree of difficulty increasing with the duration of the hike. However, you can stop after each section and return to the start of the hike.
The starting point is the hiking car park at the Krippenmuseum or the neighbouring one in front of the Rolls-Royce Automobile Museum (GPS: 47°23'22.7“N 9°46'38.1”E). The parking fee for the whole day is currently €5.30/day. You can also choose shorter times, but I would not recommend this. There are also buses from Dornbirn to here.
From the parking lot, you walk maybe 10 minutes to the entrance of the actual gorge. Here, one could stop for refreshments at a small restaurant. Instead, I walk down a small path toward the river and take pictures of the first waterfall (see cover photo).
Back at the top, I cross a bridge to the first part of the gorge. I walk along the river on an easy hiking trail. At one point, I could even get to the water, but I decide to skip that today.
A few years ago, the river washed away the wooden walkways that used to lead through the gorge. The remains can still be seen, but the path now has 187 steps leading out of the gorge.
At the top, you reach a road that crosses the gorge via a modern concrete bridge. However, the hiking trail descends again here, and shortly afterwards, I reach Lake Staufen. Now in July, it is almost dry. Amazing how much water still flows through the gorge and down the waterfalls.
I follow the signs and walk counterclockwise around the lake until I reach the entrance to the Alploch Gorge at the far end.
Here, the path consists almost entirely of wooden walkways anchored to the rock face a few meters above the water. These are not very wide and can be somewhat slippery due to the water that sometimes runs down the walls. It is highly recommended to wear appropriate footwear, especially after rainfall.
There is significantly less water flowing through this gorge, so I leave my camera in my backpack for the most part. The path is not too long, and I quickly reach the supply road, where you will also find a bus stop. Most people should have no problem mastering the hike up to this point. It is now possible to either take the same route back or walk down the road.
On the other side of the road, the climb to the Kirchle (=small church in the local dialect) begins. Here, the path literally goes over hill and dale, relatively steeply uphill.
Whereas the trail so far has been more of a stroll, I'm now really starting to sweat. The way isn't dangerous, you just need to be reasonably sure-footed. Even though the forest is beautiful and would certainly provide some interesting photo opportunities, I leave my camera in my backpack.
There are still a few hikers around, but not many. Eventually, I reach the top and arrive at the entrance to a small gorge. It looks interesting, so I set up my tripod and mount the camera.
I take a few pictures from above and then climb down. There are even chains anchored in the rock here, which I am happy to use as it is quite slippery. From below, there are more beautiful perspectives to take pictures of.
At the end of this gorge, you finally reach the Kirchle. This is by no means a building, but rather a space surrounded by rocky cliffs. On one side, the rock overhangs, creating a kind of “open cave.”
The Kirchle has a second entrance on the opposite side. Through this entrance, I now come to a fairly wide hiking trail that leads me downhill. After a while, this trail ends at a road, which in turn takes me back to the bridge over the Rappenlochschlucht. From here, I take the stairs down and through the gorge back to the parking lot.
The tour took me about 3 hours. But of course, that depends a lot on how far you go, how much time you spend taking photos, and, if you go to the Kirchle , how fit you are. I was there on a Saturday in July. Accordingly, the gorge was quite busy. When I started the hike, it was still completely fine. On the way back around noon, it was already quite crowded, and all the parking spaces were taken.
